Karel Klostermann was born on 15 February 1848 into the family of doctor Josef Klostermann. The family moved from The Hague, Austria, to Šumava, when Karl Klostermann was one year old. During his studies, he spent several years in Stríbrné Hory with the excellent teacher Petr Šafránek (today, according to him, it is called Šafránek's primary and kindergarten school). He also met the writer Alois Šmilovský here for the first time. While studying medicine in Vienna, he founded a literary society in which he performed under the name Chrudoš od Otavy. He left school and became an educator and eventually a teacher at the grammar school in Pilsen. He began to devote himself fully to writing only after his second marriage to the widow of a wealthy factory owner in 1898. He spent the summer in Štěkní, where he died in 1923.
He wrote about 300 works. The main subject is the untamed nature of Šumava. In one of his novels - From the world of forest solitude - he writes: "You cannot live in Šumava - anyone who is not born there must either harden or run away, otherwise he will not survive."